Jonathan Comey — Five Things We Learned from Sunday's Game

Five things we learned from the Patriots' 45-7 win over St. Louis Sunday in London, a win that sends New England into the second half of the season (and the bye week) with confidence and a 5-3 record.

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By JONATHAN COMEY

southcoasttoday.com

By JONATHAN COMEY

Posted Oct. 29, 2012 at 12:01 AM

By JONATHAN COMEY
Posted Oct. 29, 2012 at 12:01 AM

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Five things we learned from the Patriots' 45-7 win over St. Louis Sunday in London, a win that sends New England into the second half of the season (and the bye week) with confidence and a 5-3 record.

The Patriots' defense didn't play much better or worse than it has all season for most of the early part of Sunday's game. But when the Patriots' offense got the lead to 28-7 at the half, they played like a unit unleashed — in the second half, they looked the way you want them to look.

This is the Belichick blueprint: a great offense, with an aggressive defense that works well with a front-running team (and not-so-great in a close game).

When Brady and the offense are going that good, one failure from the opponent can be enough to cause the kind of spiral we saw in the Rams Sunday. Unless they are playing another team playing perfect offense, the game is over.

It's the reason they are always going to have a shot to win it all with Brady, and maybe also the reason they can be beaten in close games.

Oh, and P.S.: keep Gronkowski healthy at all costs.

The trade deadline is next week (two weeks later than in previous years), and while deals have been rare in years past there could be a bit more interest this time around.

The teams that are most likely to deal are those with no 2012 hopes, and there really aren't too many: Cleveland, Jacksonville, Kansas City for sure, maybe Carolina, Oakland and St. Louis as well. They'd be looking to move guys that are free agents after the season.

New England is a bit thin in the back seven and especially the secondary, but unfortunately so is the crew that might be available from the bottom-feeders. One player that would seem to be a perfect fit is Jags cornerback Rashean Mathis, who has veteran cred and a great resume, but he's been playing hurt of late. Still, if he might be able to help, why not throw a 5th-round pick Jacksonville's way?

With the Super Bowl still a realistic goal and draft picks not a huge priority with such a young roster, there's a chance to improve right now with low risk. And that's usually how this team operates.

The Patriots came into Sunday averaging an NFL-record 29 first downs per game — yes, NFL record, as in the most ever — and celebrated with an even 29 more vs. the Rams.

What we saw (on our TVs) in London was a team that is moving the ball as well as any team in the history of the game ever has. That's not hyperbole, that's bare fact. In the context of a close loss, this ability to get first downs has been overlooked — with nothing to distract from it vs. the Rams, it was really remarkable to behold.

Tom Brady hasn't gotten a lot of mention as an MVP candidate, but when he plays like he did Sunday you have to ask — who else does what he does? He hit every target he had and made the right decision all day.

As a result, this should be a pretty peaceful two-week break for Patriots fans, who had been tearing their collective hair out of late.

There was plenty of concern about the Pats' tackles back in August, when Nate Solder looked a bit shaky at left tackle and Sebastian Vollmer was working through injury on the right side.

But they were brilliant Sunday, doing their jobs in tandem. On more than one play, they seemed to push the pocket where Brady needed it in perfect unison, like synchronized swimmers. Robert Quinn and Chris Long were barely mentioned as the Rams' outside pass rush fizzled badly. They combined for three tackles, no sacks, and no pressure.

They've been getting better and better as the season has gone on, and any personnel issues caused by injury on the OL's interior have been minimal as a result.

The Patriots' defense was working it hard Sunday. From the first snap, they were playing with a noticeable intensity, and looked like a team that knew the game plan was going to work.

After the early blown coverage that led to the Rams' only touchdown of the game, New England just got better and better, and really dominated the front line. The Patriots have a lot of blue-chip talent on the defensive front, and played like it against a very weak set of St. Louis offensive linemen and skill players.

On Sunday, the defense gave hints of what fans hope they will look like in the postseason — hard-hitting, cohesive, capable of making big plays when it counted (three turnovers, stopped 70 percent of third-down attempts) and well-balanced.